Current 'cleansing' in the Defense Ministry, and in particular in the Military Intelligence Department of Serbia and Montenegro is aimed at replacing the officials, who have been working here since Slobodan Milosevic's rule, by the adherents of integration in NATO and the EU. Official Belgrade understands very well that the integration progress is only possible in the case of efficient cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
The emergence of the Montenegro Clan
The last two months have been a period when the security community of Serbia and Montenegro (SCG) has been burning with fever. Only nine days before the New Year, the SCG Cabinet of Ministers announced its decision to replace General Aleksandar (Aca) Dimitrijeviæ from his post of Military Intelligence of Defense Ministry Director (Vojnoobaveštajne agencije Ministarstva odbrane – VOA). In Serbian military and political circles it was well known that
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| Zoran Stankoviæ |
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Dimitrijeviæ, who became famous as the Chief of Military Counterintelligence (Kontraobavesajna Sluzba - KOS) (1993-99) during President Milosevic's epoch, did not get along with the present Defense Minister, Doctor Zoran Stankoviæ. According to the replaced General's entourage, the latter, at the time when he was the Head of the Military Medical Academy (VMA) (2002-2005), openly showed his distaste for Dimitrijeviæ, and promised to replace him immediately after entering the ministerial post, in October 2005.
As head of SCD Military Intelligence, Aleksandar Dimitrijeviæ was replaced by Veselin Maloviæ. Until this appointment the latter was known only to a rather narrow circle of people having to do with diplomacy and intelligence. Maloviæ was Deputy Chairman of Research and Documentation Service (Služba za istraživanje i dokumentaciju – SID) of the Serbia and Montenegro Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Much as the corresponding offices in many Western countries, SID is a plenipotentiary member of the SCD Intelligence Community. It is worth mentioning that Veselin Maloviæ is a native of Montenegro, same as the Deputy Minister of Defense, Vukašin Maraš. Maraš is a professional lawyer, the former Chief Inspector of Yugoslavian State Security Service (Služba državne bezbednosti Jugoslavije - SDB), and then – the National Security Advisor of the Montenegro President. My interlocutors in Belgrade, who know the backstage politics of the Defense Ministry, claim that it was Maraš who saw to the appointment of his fellow countryman, Veselin Maloviæ, as VOA head, after his retirement from the VMA chairmanship in April 2005. In this connection, there are some talks about formation of a "Montenegro clan" within the SCG security bodies.
In parallel with castling in the VOA directorship there were yet other displacements in the Defense Minister's entourage. The Minister's assistant for defense policy Pavle Jankoviæ, assistant for material resources, Milun Kokanoviæ, and Defense Ministry secretary, Milana Rakiæ – all were fired.
A New Generation of Spies as a Guarantor of Rapprochement with the West
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Ratko Mladiæ |
One's attention is drawn by the fact that the VOA head shift was performed in the period of an active hunt for the former leader of the Bosnian Serbs, General Ratko Mladiæ. Mladiæ is regarded by the West as a war criminal, red-handed with the murders of civilians in Sarajevo, Srebrenica, and other Bosnian places, in the 1990s. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) constantly demands his extradition from the government of Serbia and Montenegro. The task of arresting the ex-general was given to the SCG security bodies, including Military Intelligence. However, until now all their effort has come to naught. The VOA directorship was repeatedly subject to criticism on the part of ICTY and NATO, as well as on the part of the pro-Western politicians inside the country. A general statement was made that the corrupt officers of Military Intelligence not only did not try to track Mladiæ's location, but rendered him direct support. According to widespread opinion, in the late 1990s Mladiæ was allegedly strolling freely in Belgrade, and could often be seen attending football games. And on the very eve of Dimitrijeviæ's displacement, there were reports in the Serbian and Russian mass media claiming that Mladiæ tried to flee to Russia with the help of his countrymen who were sympathizers in Military Intelligence.
Thus, the current cleansing in the Defense Ministry, and in Military intelligence in particular, is aimed at guaranteeing the officials' generational change: replacement of Slobodan Miloševiæ's generation of officials by the adherents of the NATO and EU integration. Official Belgrade understands very well that the integration progress is only possible in the case of efficient cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
As yet another step aimed at strengthening the West's confidence in Belgrade, the awaited appointment of Professor Zoran Dragišiæ as the Chief Inspector of the SCG Intelligence Community is being called for. Dragišiæ is extremely popular in
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Zoran Dragišiæ |
Serbia as a political and military analyst, specializing in the sphere of national security and international terrorism. Outside the SCG he is known mostly for his publications and speeches about the Balkans' transition into a bridgehead of radical Islam in Europe.
And, finally, one more indication of Belgrade's readiness to cooperate with the West, which cannot be bypassed in this context: creation of the National Security Council (Savet za nacionalnu bezbednost - SNB). The establishment of this body, headed by the President and the Prime Minister, was officially announced on January 12, 2006, i.e. a bit more than two weeks ago. Its official task is to coordinate the actions of all SCG security bodies. However, the Minister of Justice, Zoran Stojkoviæ, immediately declared that one of the SNB's main tasks is cooperation with the international community on the issue of Ratko Mladiæ's arrest, as well as tracking the other Serbs whose names are on the ICTY war criminals' list. Nevertheless, my addressees in Belgrade pointed out that for the moment, the SNB is unable to start fulfilling this mission, as the question of its chairmanship held simultaneously by the President Tadiæ and the Prime Minister Koštunica is still open. The speed with which this issue will be solved is to be the main evidence of the SCG leadership's readiness to complete the current 'cleansing' of the Defense Ministry directorship and its intelligence bodies from Milosevic's heritage.
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